Homebrew Dionadair (edited) Species Details

"It was like I was in a world of horrors, images of the trees still haunt my dreams, and I now wonder constantly if I am being watched anytime I go near the woods."

- Torvin Hugglesby, Journey Across Andatraxia

 As a result of Wood Elves growing more connected to their forest homes, they started evolving traits that made them not only blend in more, but also more plant like, eventually becoming Dionadair.

Of the Earth

With their unearthly grace and fine features, Dionadair appear hauntingly beautiful to humans and members of many other races. They are slightly shorter than humans on average, ranging from well under 5 feet tall to just over 6 feet. They are more slender than humans, weighing only 100 to 145 pounds. Males and females are about the same height, and males are only marginally heavier than females.

Dionadair skin tends to be green in hue, sometimes with traces of brown. Their hair tends toward browns and auburn, but it is occasionally black or copper-colored. Their eyes can be any color, but are most often hazel.  Dionadair have no facial and little body hair. They favor simple clothing in earthy tones, and they enjoy simple jewelry made from nature, like shells.  The exeption to this is the formal wear for leaders of the tribe and those conducting rituals.

Seeds of Life

Dionadair have two life seeds fused to their skin behind each ear. The one on the right can be given to any other creature to eat, and once eaten, will take root in the creature and it will become a host of the Dionadair's child. (The child is a parasite on the creature and drains it's life force until the creature dies, at which point the child is born).  This is done so that even a barren Dionadair can carry on their legacy, as children and teaching the next generation are very important in their society; it is considered a great sacrifice and honor to be a vessel for a seed. The seed on the left, when crushed, is how the Dionadairs decide to retire and join the forest. The seed is crushed and once sprinkled on the ground, grows into a tree that matches the personality of its planter. Once the sapling has matured completely into an adult tree, the Dionadair dies.

Letting Go

When a Dionadair dies, they are placed next to their tree, and as time passes their skin changes from green to brown, and they start to grow bark and meld with the tree, turning to wood. Dionadair mature at a similar rate to Humans, both physically and mentally, but decide when to retire and join their tree, and can live for up to a thousand years without growing roots and bark, at which point they start the turning into a tree process.

A Timeless Perspective

Dionadair can live at least 900 years, giving them a broad perspective on events that might trouble the shorter-lived races more deeply. They mature physically and mentally at the same rate as humans. They are more often amused than excited, and more likely to be curious than greedy. They tend to remain aloof and unfazed by petty happenstance. When pursuing a goal, however, whether adventuring on a mission or learning a new skill or art, Dionadair can be focused and relentless. They are slow to make friends and enemies, and even slower to forget them. They reply to petty insults by ignoring them and to serious insults by ensuring they do not take place again.

Like the branches of a young tree, Dionadair are flexible in the face of danger. They trust in diplomacy, compromise, and strategic thinking to resolve differences before they escalate to violence. They have been known to pretend to retreat from intrusions into their woodland homes, and instead flanking from behind surprising their attackers. They usually try to give outnumbered enemies a chance to surrender before driving them away; at times they are even willing to negotiate even if they have a large advantage.  But when the need arises, some Dionadair can reveal a stern martial side, demonstrating skill with sword, bow, and what they consider most important, strategy.

Religious Beliefs

Dionadair primarily worship deities that offer protection for their homelands, and they usually believe that these deities have a more passive view of them, and are only interested when rituals are involved.  Often they believe in great unknown spirits, as opposed to a deity that is specifically known to govern a particular area.  

Hidden Woodland Realms

Most Dionadair dwell in small forest tribes hidden among carved out trees, or tree houses. Dionadair hunt game, gather food, and grow vegetables, and their skill and magic allow them to support themselves without the need for clearing and plowing land. In addition to this, they typically settle around places where magic is known to be stronger, or flowing out of something nearby.  They have even been known to live in the Feywilds occasionally, because their love of nature magic is so strong.  They are talented artisans, writing beautiful poetry, and thousands of stories. Their contact with outsiders is usually limited, thus their work is hard to come by.

Exploration and Adventure

As a Dionadair, you have keen senses and intuition, and your fleet feet carry you quickly and stealthily through your native forests. Dionadair typically live in tribal groups in the forest, and they consider themselves of noble blood, compared to their wood elf brethren, as they are more connected to the forest and less clouded by emotion.  They are extremely protective of their woods, and rarely venture out of their tribe land, having little knowledge of the rest of the world. Those who do travel usually do so because they see the beauty in the emotion expressed by some other race that they happened upon in the woods.  They also may choose to adventure to gain resources to help preserve their home.

HIGH EXPECTATIONS BUT RECOGNIZE POTENTIAL

They can be strict with their rules, and Dionadair are only sometimes gracious to those who fall short of their high expectations—which is most people outside of their tribes, including other Dionadair, who do not always share the same values. 

Dwarves. “Dwarves lack intelligence, and are clumsy. But what they lack in humor, sophistication, and manners, they make up in valor. And I must admit, the few I've met have been friendly enough.”

Halflings. “Halflings are people of simple pleasures, they are fools who distract themselves with what they can get from the present, causing them to ignore the greater good and their own future. However, at least they are not usually a threat".

Humans. “All that haste, their ambition and drive to accomplish something before their brief lives pass away—human endeavors seem so futile sometimes, but it is so noble for them to try. I have great respect for humans. You look at what they have accomplished, and you have to appreciate their achievements.”

 

Dionadair (edited) Traits

Your Dionadair character has a variety of natural abilities, the result of thousands of years of Dionadair living in the forest and training, as well as their connection to the natural world around them.

Ability Score Increase

Your Wisdom score increases by 2, and your Dexterity score increases by 1.

Age

Although Dionadair reach physical and mental maturity at about the same age as humans, they decide when to retire and join their tree, and can live for up to 1000 years without growing roots and bark, and start the process of turning into a tree.

Alignment

Dionadair tend towards lawful, because of their value of loyalty and duty, however what they feel honor bound to can vary, so they can range from good to evil depending on that.

Size

Dionadair range from under 5 to over 6 feet tall and have slender builds. Your size is Medium.

Fleet of Foot

Your base walking speed is 35 feet.

Natural Remedies

You are proficient with herbalism kits.

Plant-like

Your creature type is considered to be both humanoid and plant, however, you are vulnerable to fire damage.

Natural Camouflage

You have advantage on Dexterity (Stealth) checks when trying to hide in dense foliage such as in swamps and forests, and you can take the hide action even when you are only lightly obscured by foliage.  You lose these benefits if you don medium or heavy armor.

Darkvision

Accustomed to twilight forests and the night sky, you have superior vision in dark and dim conditions. You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can’t discern color in darkness, only shades of gray.

Keen Senses

You have proficiency in the Perception skill.

Fey Ancestry

You have advantage on saving throws against being charmed, and magic can’t put you to sleep.

Trance

Dionadair don’t need to sleep. Instead, they meditate deeply, remaining semiconscious, for 4 hours a day. (The Common word for such meditation is “trance.”) While meditating, you can dream after a fashion; such dreams are actually mental exercises that have become reflexive through years of practice. After resting in this way, you gain the same benefit that a human does from 8 hours of sleep.

Languages

You can speak, read, and write Common and Dionadairian.  Dionadairian sounds almost melodic and it is a very soft language, with few harsh characters.  It is also common for Dionadair to communicate in whistles when far away.